Education

State education property tax on trial again

The stage is set for the three-cornered litigation over the legitimacy of the Statewide Education Property Tax (SWEPT) before the New Hampshire Supreme Court, which will weigh the state’s appeal of the ruling by Judge David Ruoff of Rockingham County Superior Court that the administration of the tax is unconstitutional.

Superintendents speak to funding challenges facing public schools

Jessica Wheeler Russell of Penacook, who sits on the board of Merrimack County School District, spoke briefly to begin the testimony when the Rand trial opened last week. She told the court she regularly took calls or had conversations with her constituents asking what could be done to stem the ever-rising rate of the school property tax.

Rand trial tests Claremont orders

The opening of the Rand trial before Judge David Ruoff in Rockingham County Superior Court last week marked the beginning of an effort to persuade the court to reaffirm and enforce the rulings of the New Hampshire Supreme Court in the Claremont cases by ordering the state to rescind and replace its unconstitutional system of financing public schools.